Is This Real?
by captainpastelunicorns
Summary: Hinata woke up in the hospital with no memory of what has happened to her over the past year. She wanted answers and she would do almost anything to find them. Will she ever find out what happened to her or are those memories lost forever? None of the characters are mine, they belong to their rightful owners.
1. Chapter 1: Dream

**Is This Real?**

Chapter 1: Dream

She was running from something, but what? She'd continue to run until she ran into a dead end. Then there was that haunting laugh and the glowing red eyes. The eyes would stare into her very soul. She had no escape from him. It seemed like time stopped and all she knew was that she was going to die. The man stopped laughing and smirked at her. He opened his mouth and started to speak. She couldn't hear him though. What was he saying?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was a knock at the door, she could hear it open. She could tell it was morning, or at least sometime during the day, because of the sunlight hitting her closed eyelids. She tried opening her eyes but couldn't. Foot steps could be heard walking towards her. A hand rested on top of her forehead and someone's ear was against her chest, listening to her heart beat. A sigh of relief seemed to escape the unknown person. She could hear the person sit down somewhere near her.

_Who's there? Where am I? _

She tryed forcing her eyes open to see who the person was but couldn't. She struggled desperately for what seemed several minutes before she finally slipped into a peaceful slumber.

When she woke up, she forced her eyelids open. All she could see was darkness and the light coming from the moon through her window. She looked around at her surroundings and noticed she was in the Leaf Village hospital. Desperately, she tried to remember what had happened to her. There was a huge pain in her chest and she could tell she was wrapped up in bandages. She slowly fell asleep, her eyelids were too heavy for her to keep open.

It was finally morning again, however, there was no sunlight. It was cloudy, raining, lightening, and thundering outside. As much as she hated to admit it, it kinda frightened her. Again, she tryed to recall how she ended up in the hospital.

_I remember being out on a mission with Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Kakashi, and Captain Yamato. We were searching for Sasuke. Did we find him? Are the others okay? Is Naruto okay?_

She could hear people tallking outside her door, then there was a knock and two people walked in. It was Sakura and Naruto. They looked at her and noticed she was awake. Smiles formed across their mouths, then Naruto frowned and looked extremely sad. He walked over to her and sat on a chair next to her bed. Sakura walked closer and stood beside of where Naruto was sitting.

"Hinata... I'm so sorry. I should've been there to protect you," Naruto looked down at her and his lips began to quiver and tears spilled from his eyes. Hinata stared at him in disbelief and confusion. Sakura put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"N-Naruto. I-I d-don't... W-what are you t-talking about?" Hinata could barely talk, her voice was nothing but a quiet whisper.

"You mean you don't remember anything that happened?" Sakura asked while tilting her head to the side.

"N-no. Well I r-remember g-going on a m-mission with you, N-Naruto, and the others, b-but n-nothing else r-really."

Naruto closed his eyes and looked away from Hinata. He couldn't help but to feel like everything that had happened to her was all his fault. He should've been able to protect her.

"Well, Naruto and I can tell you everything we know after you eat some breakfast. I'll go get you some," Sakura said as she walked out of the room. Hinata and Naruto were now alone.

"N-Naruto, p-please don't c-cry." Hinata couldn't stand to see him like this. She wanted him to be his usual happy, cheerful self.

He looked back down at her and closed his eyes. Slowly the tears seemed to fade away. "Hinata, I'm glad you're finally awake... It's been so long since I've seen you."

_How long have I been gone?_

Sakura returned and carried a tray with some food and water on it. She layed it on the bed next to Hinata. Hinata slowly sat up, feeling the pain in her chest again. It was almost unbearable. She took a drink of water and begin to eat. Sakura was the first to speak.

"We were on a mission to capture Sasuke and bring him back. Somehow, we all got seperated and ended up fighting various members of the Akatsuki on our own. I don't know all the details on what had happened to you or who you were fighting but you were captured. Hinata... You've been gone for almost a year. One morning you just showed up unconscious at the village gates. Neji, Rock Lee, TenTen, and Guy Sensei brought you here. They had just returned from a mission when they saw you. Hopefully you'll get your memory back so we''ll know what had happened. I'm just glad your here and alive."

_A year? I was gone for a year?_

"When you were checked into the hospital Lady Tsunade gave you a check up and healed you herself. She said some things had to heal on their own but that you'd live. She has been giving you check ups daily. Inoichi tried to discover information with his mind jutsu but it didn't work. He said you'd have to remember everything before he could search your mind. He also said that someone had locked your memories and thats why he couldn't see anything."

_Locked my memories? If my memories are locked, how can I remember anything?_

"The type of jutsu that locked your memories is only locked from people on the outside, they aren't locked from you. You just need to remember. Maybe everyone who was on the mission will be able to refresh your memory."

"Sakura," Naruto said, "maybe Hinata shouldn't remember what happened."

"What?! Naruto what are you saying? Of course she should."

"What if what happened to Hinata was horrible? Why should she have to remember something so bad?! Damn it..." Naruto was yelling and tears had returned to his eyes.

"Naruto..." Sakura could just stare at him. She was puzzled, she's never seen Naruto act like this.

"N-Naruto," whispered Hinata, "I w-want to r-remember, I n-need t-to." Naruto frowned. For some reason he really didn't want Hinata to remember anything that had happened to her while she was away. "I have to know what happened to me. It's important, p-please u-understand."

Naruto cursed under his breath and got up from his seat. He looked at Hinata one last time before leaving. Sakura and Hinata just stared after him in shock. "Wow, what's gotten into him," Sakura asked herself quietly before turning back to Hinata. "Don't worry about Naruto, I'll go talk to him. You need your rest. I'll tell Lady Tsunade that you're awake." Sakura left, leaving Hinata alone with her thoughts.

_Naruto... Are you really worried about me? I need to know what happened! I have to get out of here and talk to the others._ _ Maybe Kakashi Sensei will tell me what happened. If I can't get out of here then I'll request to see him!_

Hinata looked out the window, the storm had stopped. The sun was slowly coming out and she could see a rainbow.

_ What a perfect day..._

Hinata was alone for about an hour before another knock came to the door. Lady Tsunade walked in and quickly gave Hinata a check up.

"Lady Tsunade," Hinata whispered.

"Yes?"

"When can I leave the hospital?"

"A week or so, I can't be certain right now. Besides, you just woke up."

"Oh. C-can I see Kakashi Sensei then? I need to talk to him..."

"I'll tell him to stop by. Get some rest." That was the last thing Tsunade said before leaving. Hinata wasn't sure if she was really going to tell Kakashi to come see her or not, but she didn't care. It was either she saw him in the next two days or she was sneaking out of the hospital.

The pain in Hinata's chest wasn't as bad now. She decided to take Sakura and Tsunade's advice and get some rest, so she slept.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hinata looked around her. Where were the others? She ran until she came face to face with a man. He was wearing a black robe with red clouds on it. A member of the Akatsuki. She knew him, but for some reason she didn't believe it was really him. How could it be? He stared at her with his cold, heartless eyes. His mouth slowly formed a smirk. She wanted to run and tell the others about him but she couldn't. She knew she had to deal with him on her own. She activated her byakugan and stood in a fighting stance.

"I don't want to fight you," he said. "I only wish to speak to you."

"Y-yeah right! W-what could you p-possibly want to t-talk to me a-about?"

He gave her a devilish grin and laughed quietly to himself. Next thing she knew, he was right behind her.

_He's so fast!_

He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, "Come with me." She turned around to face him but he was gone. Hinata was shocked by his words and for some reason it made her really nervous. Then, she passed out. The last thing she could remember was someone carrying her in their arms. It seemed like hours before she woke up.

_This isn't my room. Where am I?! What happened?! _

A door opened and a man walked in. It was the man from before.

_Oh. Right... _

He walked closer to her and opened his mouth. He was speaking to her but no sound came out.


	2. Chapter 2: Gone

**Author's Note:** I honestly have no idea where I'm going with this story, lol. I just come up with stuff as I type cx Also, some characters may seem out of character, but thats okay haha. I'm not too happy with this chapter cx I'll try to make the next chapter much better.

**Chapter 2: Gone**

The next two days went by slowly. Hinata noticed that her stuttering had stopped, even when Naruto was around. It actually made her happy that that awful stutter was gone. Kakashi still hasn't come to see her to give her answers, so tonight was the night she would sneak out. She had no idea how difficult it would be to leave the hospital without any one noticing, but she had to try. The pain in her chest was now extremely bad and she knew it would be risky leaving the hospital in this condition.

It was 8:00 p.m. and she decided to leave at 1:00 a.m. She had no idea where to go once she was out. Hinata decided it would be best if she just left the village and hid in the forest until she could figure out where to go. Thoughts of her old teammates came to her mind.

_I wonder how Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino are doing. I wish I could visit them. Its been so long, we probably aren't even a team anymore. I was probably replaced._

The thoughts made Hinata feel sad and guilty. She knew once she left the village she might not be able to return. Visiting Kiba and Shino was all she could think about now. She needed to see them one last time before she did whatever it was that she was about to do.

Finally, it was time for her to leave. She got dressed in her usual attire and decided it would be best if she used the Transformation Jutsu and disguised herself as Sakura. Once she looked like Sakura, she walked out of her hospital room. She noticed she limped and tryed to hide it.

"Sakura! Wait, Sakura!"

_Oh no! What if they realize I'm not Sakura?!_

Hinata turned around to see who was yelling for her and it was a nurse.

"Uh, yes?" Hinata wasn't sure what she would do if this nurse found out that she was not Sakura.

"I just wanted to tell you that Lady Tsunade said you could have tomorrow off since you've been working so much lately."

"Oh, thank you. I have to leave now," she said with a smile on her face. Hinata hoped the nurse wouldn't question her and much to her relief the nurse just nodded and left.

_I hope no one else talks to me._

Hinata reached the front doors of the hospital within four minutes and walked out. The air outside was windy and Sakura's short pink hair kept getting in her eyes. She walked a little ways away from the hospital before releasing the jutsu.

Shino's house was her first stop. She knocked on the door and luckily Shino answered. He stared at her in disbelief. "Hinata, you're back?" She noticed he look surprised yet worried at the same time.

"Yes, did you not know?"

"No, I had no idea. How long have you been back? Where have you been?" Hinata did not know the answer to those questions herself.

"I don't know. I just wanted to talk to you and Kiba before I leave for my next mission."

"You have a mission? You've been missing for a year and they already give you a mission?"

"Uh, I'll explain things once we get Kiba." Shino stared at Hinata. She seemed so different now. Could this really be the same girl he grew up with. He decided to go along with whatever she was planning for now.

Kiba lived five minutes away from Shino so they got there in no time. Kiba and Akamaru were sitting outside in the grass looking up at the stars. Hinata knew that they were aware of her and Shino's presence because they could smell them.

"Kiba?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Hinata, is that really you?" Kiba glared at her. He wasn't certain if that was actually her or someone disguised as her. If she was back in the village, why didn't he know?

"Yes Kiba, it really is me. I need to talk to you and Shino." Hinata sat in front of Kiba and pat Akamaru's head. Akamaru seemed pleased to see her. Kiba noticed this and decided that it really was Hinata.

Shino spoke up, "Hinata, what is this all about?"

"I haven't seen you three in over a year and now I'm about to leave again for this mission and I don't even know how long I'll be gone for. I guess I just wanted to see you guys again before I left..."

"You're talking as if you'll never come back! What is this mission you're going on anyway?!" Kiba yelled this. It was obvious he was annoyed about something.

"Kiba, calm down. Let Hinata talk."

"Thanks Shino. I'm sure I will return," Hinata whispered. "It's just that I have no idea how long I'll be gone. I've really missed you all." Kiba blushed for some unknown reason and Akamaru licked Hinata's hand. Shino had no idea what was going on but he knew it was something bad.

"This mission you're going on," Shino paused."Are you going alone?"

"Yes." Hinata said as she looked up at him.

"What! Why can't we go with you?" Kiba was surprised that Hinata would even accept a solo mission. He wondered what had happened to her over the past year.

"It's something only I can do. Anyways, I'm sure you guys have your own missions to attend to. "

"Hinata, what happened to you?" Kiba was confused. He missed Hinata more than anything and the thought of her possibly being dead hurt him, then all of a sudden she shows up one random night and says she's leaving again. Something seemed off, but he couldn't tell what just yet.

"I have no idea. I've been in the hospital for a few days now, I got released today. I'm not sure how long I've been back because I was unconscous for a while. But anyways, I just wanted to let you guys know that I appreciate everything you've done for me. I have to go now, it's getting late." Hinata decided it'd be best if she left before things got too serious. Kiba was asking too many questions and Shino looked like he was planning something to stop her or find out what exactly was going on. Hinata walked away from the three and looked back one last time before she ran to the front gates of the village.

Usually there were guards there keeping track of who entered the village and who left but no one could be seen. She decided it would be okay just to walk out and run to a pond that was far inside the forest. There she would rest and make a plan before setting out in search of the Akatsuki. She knew they had something to do with her disappearance and right now she didn't even care if they killed her. She just wanted some information, even if it was almost impossible to get from them.

Once she reached the pond, Hinata sat down on a rock and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes in terror once she realized that leaving the village without permission made her a rogue ninja.

_Damn... I totally forgot that! Maybe if I find out information they'll understand why I left._

Hinata got up from the rock and walked over to the pond, splashing water on her face. It felt so refreshing to be out of that small hospital room. She took off her bandages that covered her arms, legs, stomach, and chest only to discoved dark scars all over her body. The sight of the scars scared Hinata. She was curious to know why she had them. Her heart started pounding uncontrollably as the pain in her chest returned. The pain was so unbearable that it caused Hinata to fall back and hit her head on the rock she was sitting on earlier. Her eyes fluttered a few times before they finally closed and her entire body felt numb. She could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness again.


	3. Chapter 3: Where?

** Chapter 3: Where?**

Lady Tsunade had just woken up, she fell asleep on a pile of papers again. As she stretched her arms and yawned she decided it'd be a good idea to do her daily check ups early today. She stood up from her chair, carrying a clipboard, and walked out the door of her office. On her way to the hospital she ran into Kakashi.

"Kakashi, Hinata wanted to speak to you when you returned from your mission."

"Hinata? She's back?" Kakashi was surprised. Truthfully, he didn't think Hinata would return after all this time.

"Yes. She's currently in the hospital. I'm on my way there now, come with me."

"Oh, uh, sure," Kakashi was kinda upset. He was happy Hinata was back and all but he really just wanted to go home and read after that long, tiring mission.

They arrived at the hospital in no time and were walking to Hinata's room. After knocking once on her door, they walked in. The bed was empty and Hinata's clothes were gone. _Damn it! _ _Where could she have gone?!, _Tsunade thought to herself. Kakashi just stood there waiting for Tsunade to say something. "Kakashi, go to my office and wait for me there."

"Yes," Kakashi said.

Tsunade searched the hospital for Sakura. Usually Sakura visited Hinata in the mornings, maybe she knew where she was. Seeing Sakura talking to some nurses, Tsunade walked over to her and waited for them to finish their conversation.

"Good morning, Lady Tsunade," the two nurses said as they walked off.

"Good morning," Tsunade replied. "Sakura, where is Hinata?!"

"What do you mean? She's in her room, isn't she?"

"No. She must've snuck out sometime during the night. Go get Naruto and meet me in my office," Tsunade said in a serious voice.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Sakura said as she started walking away. Tsunade went to her office to wait for Sakura and Naruto.

Sakura decided to go to Naruto's house first. She thought he'd still be in bed this early in the morning. She knocked a few times and got no answer.

_Well, if he's not home that means he's probably getting ramen. _

Luckily, Ichiraku Ramen was very close. Sakura saw Naruto standing outside of it complaining about something.

"...but why can't you just give me some ramen and I'll go..."

"Sorry, Naruto. We're closed," Ayame said.

"Naruto," Sakura called out to him.

"Oh, Sakura! Are you here for a date?" Naruto said as he grinned.

"Cha! Of course not! Lady Tsunade wants us to come to her office. It's important."

"It's way too early for missions," Naruto said with a frown on his face. Sakura grabbed his arm and pulled him all the way to the Hokage's office. She knocked on the door and waited for Tsunade to say enter before dragging Naruto in.

"Good, you two are finally here," Tsunade said once they had entered. "I have an important mission for you."

"An important mission? Really? That's awesome! I'm tired of all these lame missions you've been giving us, Grandma." Naruto said while rubbing the back of his head. Sakura glared at him. She hated how he called her master grandma. "And anyways, I wanted to visit Hinata earlier this morning."

"Hinata has escaped from the hospital. I want you three to find her and bring her back. You must hurry! She is in no condition to be out on her own. Her life is in danger with her injuries!"

"Hinata..." Naruto quietly whispered to himself as he clenched his fists. Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto set out to search for Hinata.

**xxx**

The sun beat down on Hinata's face, making it feel warm. Her eyes fluttered open as she sat up. The pond water sparkled in the sunlight and the wind made the leaves from the trees fall down into the pond. It was beautiful there and it mesmerized Hinata. She forgot all about her worries but only for a second.

_Now what should I do? Oh, I know! I'll go to where I was when I was on that mission to get Sasuke back! Maybe there's a clue or something there. At least it's a start._

Hinata jumped up onto a nearby tree branch and began running. She desperately tried to remember which way she needed to go to get to her desired location.

**xxx**

"We'll rest here for a bit," Kakashi said as he turned to face Naruto and Sakura. Naruto frowned and Sakura looked relieved. They'd been running for what seemed liked days but was really only a few hours. Pakkun stopped running from ahead of the group and stretched his body before lying down.

"Her scent is really weak around here but we're getting closer," Pakkun said with a yawn.

"That's good! I wonder why she left the hospital though..." Sakura said as she leaned against a tree.

"Are we even sure she left?! What if she was kidnapped again?!" Naruto yelled. He was extremely worried about Hinata.

"Naruto, you need to be quieter," Kakashi said. "And she had to of left on her own. There was no unknown scent in her room and there wasn't any sign of a struggle."

"It just doesn't make any sense! She's badly injured and she just got back!" Naruto was losing his patience. He wanted Hinata to be safely back at the hospital.

"Maybe she ran off to look for answers. I mean she seemed pretty upset when we told her she'd been gone for a year. If I were her I would want to know what happened."

"We should start looking at the place where we encountered the Akatsuki on our last mission with Hinata. That would be the only place I can think of that she would go to right now," Kakashi said as he looked up at the sky.

"Right! Let's go!" Naruto yelled. The group starting running again with Pakkun in the lead.

**xxx**

_This day can't get any more stressful,_ Tsunade thought to herself. There was still tons of paper work to be completed. She looked over at the bottle of sake sitting beside her and sighed. _I guess that'll have to wait. _There was a knock on her door.

"Enter," Tsunade said as she rolled her eyes. _Can't I ever get a break?_

Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru walked into the room and closed the door behind them. "We've returned from our mission and it was successful," Shino said.

"Good, you can go rest now. I'll summon you if another mission comes up," said Tsunade.

"Actually, Lady Tsunade... We were curious about something..." Kiba said. Tsunade always made him feel uncomfortable because she scared him a little bit. Her strength and attitude always intimidated him.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked, even though she had a slight idea about where this was going.

"Well, Hinata said something about a mission last night, and we were just wondering what this mission is exactly." Kiba said while rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"You talked to Hinata last night?" _Maybe she told them where she was headed, _Tsunade thought.

"Yes. Hinata said she was given a mission only she could do," Shino answered.

_I guess I should tell them. I mean they were on the same team after all. They know more about Hinata so maybe they could find her and convince her to come home. _

"Hinata was not given a mission," Tsunade calmly said.

Kiba had a confused look on his face. If Hinata wasn't given a mission why would she lie and say she was? Nothing made sense any more, not that it really did to begin with. "So where did she go then?!" Kiba was almost yelling now.

"I have no idea. She escaped from the hospital late last night. Her injuries are serious, life threatening even. I sent Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura out to look for her. I want you three to catch up to them and help bring Hinata back as soon as possible!"

"Yes, Lady Tsuande," Shino said as he grabbed Kiba by the jacket sleeve and pulled him out of her office. Akamaru followed behind the two.

_Ugh, maybe now I can get some sleep,_ Tsunade thought to herself knowing that that was nearly impossible because Shizune came in with even more paper work.

**A/N: **Okay, so that was the third chapter c: I hope it wasn't too bad cx Anyways, I'll start working on the next chapter soon.


	4. Chapter 4: An Old Friend

**Chapter 4: An Old Friend**

The moon shined brightly above Hinata. She sat down in a patch of grass underneath a giant tree. Luckily, she packed some snacks in her kunai pouch before she left so she ate. In the morning she would have to find a village to get some food and maybe even find a hot spring. Her body ached and her chest felt like it was on fire.

_What happened to my chest to make it like this? This pain is too much... Maybe I shouldn't have left...but there's no turning back now._

After Hinata finished eating she took her jacket off and made it into a pillow. She layed her head down onto the it and tried to forget about the pain. Sleep didn't seem like it would happen. A noise could be heard in the distance. Instantly, Hinata stood up and activated her Byakugan. She looked all around her and saw a person about one mile away from her. She recognized him but couldn't remember where she had seen him before.

Hinata tried to run away but her body was too sore causing her to fall to the ground. The man was getting closer and closer and soon he would be right there with her. She hoped he would ignore her and go about his business but she knew that would be too good to be true. Looking closer at him she noticed the familiar robe, it was black with red clouds outlined in white.

In no time at all the man stood in front of her grinning, exposing his sharp pointy teeth. Hinata thought she should be afraid but she wasn't. For some reason she knew he wasn't going to harm her. She felt like she knew a lot about this man.

"Hinata, it's been awhile. I see you're not healed," the man said.

_He knows my name? Who is he? Where have I seen him before? And how would he know about my injuries?_

"W-who are you?" Hinata asked, trying to not stutter but failing.

"What?! You don't remember me? I thought we were friends Hinata," he said with a small hint of sadness in his voice.

"O-oh u-uh, w-well, I s-seem to h-have lost my m-memory..." She had no idea why she was telling him this.

"I'm sure you'll remember things in no time," he said smirking. "My name is Suigetsu, it's rude to not remember someones name, you know." Suigetsu was grinning now. He seemed to enjoy the thought of her having memory loss.

"Suigetsu... I-I'm sorry I just c-can't r-remember."

"Heh, it's fine I guess. I thought your stutter went away at least, did you forget that too?" Hinata frowned at his remark. Apparently, he knows her really well, maybe more than she'd like. "Don't frown... I'm sorry if I upset you. Anyway, I've been looking for you for weeks. We were supposed to meet three weeks ago! But I guess you don't remember that. You should rest awhile so we can get going."

"W-where are we g-going?"

"To meet with Sasuke, Karin, and Juugo of course," Suigetsu said as if it were obvious.

"S-sasuke...?"

"Yeah, he'll explain things once we meet up with him. Rest now so we can go soon." Hinata was confused now. She had dreams about Sasuke, or a man that looked like him, when she was in the hospital.

_So Sasuke really is in the Akatsuki? Maybe my dreams were memories..._

Hinata layed back down. For some unknown reason to her, she felt like she could really trust Suigetsu not to murder her in her sleep. She knew she'd have a lot of running to do soon and just the thought of it made her legs ache even more.

**xxx**

It took Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru a full day of running and tracking to catch up with Naruto and the others. Once they found them they explained how Tsunade had sent them to help search for Hinata and gave them the details about their conversation with her from last night. They all decided that it'd be best to take a break for the night so they could get some rest, they knew things would get complicated soon.

"Hey, uhh, Sakura...," Naruto whispered.

"What do you want?" Sakura replied, she was half asleep.

"Well, umm, do you think Hinata is okay?"

"Hmmm, I want to say she is but I can't. We just have to believe in her." Sakura said before falling completely asleep. Running was never her favorite thing and it tired her out more than anything else.

_Believe... _Naruto thought.

**xxx**

"Wake up," Suigetsu said as he shook Hinata gently. When her eyes opened he smiled and said, "Morning beautiful," causing her to blush. She looked up at him, feeling like she could finally see him more clearly. He had beautiful white hair and breathtaking purple eyes. Hinata thought he was really handsome and it caused her to blush even more.

"Are you okay? Do you fell feverish?" Suigetsu asked.

"I'm fine, thanks," Hinata said while sitting up. "So where are we going now?"

"Your stutter is gone again," Suigetsu said with a grin. "I thought we'd go to a nearby village for some food and then meet up with Sasuke and the others at the hideout which is going to take at least four days to get to so we'll need to stock up on food and supplies."

"Okay," Hinata said as she stood up brushing the dirt off of her clothes. She put her jacket on and zipped it up. Her chest was throbbing with pain and her legs weren't feeling much better. Maybe she could talk Suigetsu into letting her go to a hot spring before they set out on their four day journey.

"Follow me," Suigetsu said as he jumped up on to a nearby tree branch and began running. Hinata had no choice but to follow close behind him.

Once they had reached the village, they walked down a path that lead to many shops. Each shop sold different things, it was very interesting to Hinata. Everything was different from Konaha, except for the people. Every one seemed to be having fun; laughing, smiling, and just looking extremely happy. Suigetsu bought enough food for the rest of their trip as well as some breakfast for the two. After eating Hinata decided she should just ask about finding a hot spring to go to.

"Suigetsu..." Hinata said quietly. She was kinda embarrassed to ask him this.

"Yes?"

"Maybe we could go to a hot spring to relax before we leave."

"Oh hey! That's a great idea! Let's go," Suigetsu said as he grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled her behind him. The hot spring was located in the back of the village and it seemed like no one was there. Hinata and Suigetsu would have some time to themselves and they were each thankful for this. The lobby of the hot spring was quite small and had two doors. One door said 'Women' and the other said 'Men'. Hinata walked into the woman's door and Suigetsu walked into the man's.

Hinata took her clothes off and immediately got into the hot water. It felt so nice on her aching body. Her chest didn't hurt as much now either, it usually only hurt in the mornings and at night.

_I hope I don't keep Suigetsu waiting too long._

After about forty minutes Hinata decided it was time to get out. Suigetsu walked out of his door the same time she walked out of her's. He held the door of the lobby open for her and she walked out.

"So did you enjoy the hot spring?" Suigetsu asked as they walked down the path leading out of the village.

"Oh yes! It was quite enjoyable," Hinata said.

"I'm glad," Suigetsu said with a grin on his face.

"Uhh, Suigetsu... Will Sasuke really tell me everything that happened over the past year?" Hinata asked nervously.

Suigetsu turned to glance at her and then focused back on the path ahead of him. He honestly didn't know if Sasuke would tell her anything but he hoped he would. She deserved to know. "Oh yeah of course he will. I mean if he doesn't it's not really a big deal because Karin, Juugo, and I could help you remember things but Sasuke would be better because he knows every detail. We all just kinda follow him and do what he says... He's pretty bossy. But anyway, we'll worry about that some other time. Let's try to hurry." Suigetsu started running and Hinata followed.

**Author's Note: ** I had to write this chapter twice because I accidently deleted it once cx lol but I just wanted to say that I have no idea what the pairings are for this, like who's in love with who. Sasuke and Hinata are just the main characters (mostly Hinata, obviously lol) so there probably won't be any love between them but then again I change my mind a lot. We'll just have to see what happens. Also, I want to say that I have no idea how many chapters there will be but I feel like there's going to be a lot lol. Have a good day :)

I reuploaded this chapter because I found a few spelling errors and it just bugged me cx


	5. Chapter 5: Directions

**Chapter 5: Directions**

"Hinata's scent goes into that village and back out that way," Kiba said while pointing in a certain direction. "It smells like somoeone was with her."

"Do you recognize the scent?" Kakashi asked.

"No, Akamaru doesn't either."

"Let's ask people in the village if they've seen her and who she was with. We'll split up into pairs. Sakura and Shino can go together and Naruto you go with Kiba and Akamaru. I'll go alone and get some supplies too."

"Okay," everyone said in unison as they split up and went their seperate ways.

"Where should we start asking around?" Naruto groaned.

"We can follow Hinata's scent to the back of this village. She must've been here yesterday because her scent is still strong," Kiba replied. Akamaru lead the way to the farthest end of the village where the hot spring was located.

"A hot spring?" Naruto asked. "Why would she come here with someone?"

"I don't know. Let's ask the person who sits in the lobby." Kiba walked inside with Naruto and Akamaru following behind him. When they got inside they saw a lady sitting at the front desk reading a book. She had long blonde hair and green eyes. Her outfit was a long white coat that resembled a lab coat with a plain black shirt and pants underneath with sandals on her feet.

"Hey lady! Did you see a girl come in here yesterday? She has long, dark hair and pale eyes and she was with someone." Naruto said.

The woman looked up at Naruto and stared at him for a moment. "My name is Delilah not lady," she said coldly. Her eyes wandered over to Kiba and she gave him a soft smile. "And what is your name?" She asked Kiba while batting her eyelashes at him. Naruto glared at the woman, obviously she wasn't going to cooperate with him.

_What's wrong with her?_ Kiba thought. "Umm, it's Kiba. So anyway, did you see the girl yesterday or not?"

"Is she your girlfriend?" Delilah asked with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Kiba blushed and said, "Oh no! She's my teammate..." He waved his hands in front of him acting as if that was a ridiculous question.

"Hmm, well I did see a girl here yesterday and she did have long, dark hair. I was in the storage room though so I only saw her from a distance. This girl I saw was with a really cute man though, I talked to him for a while." Kiba frowned, if it was Hinata why was she with a man, especially a cute one?

"What did you say to this man? And what did he look like?!" Naruto was almost screaming. _This lady is just so slow. Maybe if she wasn't staring at Kiba so much she could give us some useful information quicker,_ Naruto thought.

Delilah looked at Naruto suddenly, she forgot that he was there. "He just asked for a towel and then he asked where the closest town was so I gave him directions. And as for his looks, he was insanely handsome. His hair was white and his eyes.. oh his eyes were a magnificant shade of purple," the lady sighed returning her gaze to Kiba. She giggled quietly, "But you know, he wasn't as handsome as you."

Naruto's mouth fell open and he turned to look at Kiba to see how he'd react. Kiba stared at Delilah with an expressionless look but then his mouth twitched into a grin, it was obvious he was forcing it. "Uh, thanks," Kiba said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Okay you two! We don't have time for this, give us the directions you gave him!" Naruto was losing his patience. Delilah was certainly not someone he liked. She glared at him but gave him the directions.

"So maybe after you find this girl you'll come back and visit?" Delilah said while smiling at Kiba.

"Hmm, uhh, yeah... Let's go Naruto, we have to get back to the others. Thanks Delilah..." Kiba said while dragging Naruto out of the lobby with Akamaru following close behind. Once they were outside, Naruto began laughing hysterically.

"What?!" Kiba yelled.

"Haha, she..." Naruto couldn't finish his sentence because he was laughing so hard. Kiba decided to ignore him and walked down to the path to the location where the team had seperated. Hopefully the others were back and he could get out of this village as soon as possible.

When Kiba, Akamaru and Naruto reached the spot where the team split up, Shino, Sakura, and Kakashi were already there waiting for them. Unfortunately for Kiba, Naruto was still hysterically laughing.

"None of us got any information, did you three?" Kakashi asked, thinking that they wouldn't know a thing.

"We did. A woman," Kiba started but was quickly interrupted by Naruto saying "Not a woman, _Delilah_," emphasis on Delilah, which was followed by more hysterical fits of laughter. Kiba just frowned, he was getting really annoyed with Naruto.

"Whatever. She said she saw a girl with long, dark hair with a man with white hair and purple eyes in the hot spring. She also said that she gave the man directions to a close town and she gave us the directions as well."

"Kiba! Don't forget that the man was insanely handsome... haha... but not as handsome as you!" Naruto said which caused the others to stare at him with confused expressions.

"Shut up, idiot!" Kiba yelled.

"Both of you shut up! Give us the directions you were given," Sakura said. Kiba gave them the directions given to them by Delilah. They decided that the town would be their next stop.

"Let's go," Kakashi said. And that was hopefully the last time Kiba set foot into this village.

**xxx**

We'll stop here for the night, Hinata,"Suigetsu said. He was in desperate need of a water break, he only allowed himself to stop for water three times today. Though they spent most of the morning sleeping.

"Okay, Suigetsu," Hinata smiled. She really enjoyed Suigetsu's company.

"Heh, so Hinata... Is there any special man in your life.. or woman?" Suigetsu just wanted to have a simple conversation with her since most of his conversations with Sasuke, Karin, and Juugo were annoying or complicated.

Hinata's face turned bright red and she started to panic. "W-what?! N-no, o-of c-course n-not!" Suigetsu grinned at her reply, for some reason it was really fun to embarass her like this.

"Hmm, I think there is. What's their name?"

"T-there's n-no one!" Hinata's face now resembled the color of cherries.

"If there wasn't someone you wouldn't be stuttering or be the color of a tomato," Suigetsu said with a wide smile plastered onto his face.

Hinata looked away from him and sat down in front of a tree, leaning her back against it. "You're w-wrong. That question was just unexpected."

"Oh sure, sure." Suigetsu said while sipping drinks of his water.

"Hey, Suigetsu, can I ask you something?" Hinata looked back at him, her face was it's normal pale color now.

"Yes?"

"What's Sasuke, Karin, and Juugo like? Like what kind of people are they?"

"Well... Sasuke is just... Sasuke. And Karin is a loud, mouthy, annoying woman! But she has talent. Juugo... He just keeps to himself a lot. He really likes animals and nature though and thats all I know about the guy."

"They sound interesting. Did I know them before I lost my memory?"

"Of course you did! I think you knew them all better than they know themselves." Somehow Hinata just couldn't believe that. "Hinata, it's getting late. You need to get some sleep, we'll be going to a town in the morning to rest some more before we continue our way back to the hideout. I plan on stopping somewhere the day after tomorrow too. We should get there the next day though."

"Okay," Hinata whispered. She was already almost asleep and only half heard what Suigetsu had just said. Suigetsu saw she was sleeping already so he decided he should try to get some sleep as well. He checked to make sure she was really sleeping before he layed down next to her, he didn't lay too closely but still close enough that it'd probably embarrass her in the morning when she realized how close he was.

_This will be fun,_ Suigetsu thought before he shut his eyes to fall asleep. He desperately wished that they had tents or something to sleep on because the ground was uncomfortable. Slowly, he drifted to sleep.

**Author's Note:** Seems like the chapters are getting shorter and shorter cx I've been really busy with school work lately so I haven't really had any time to just sit and try to come up with some interesting chapters but soon I have a day off so maybe I'll write then c: Have a lovely day ^-^


	6. Chapter 6: Cover Up

**Chapter 6: Cover Up**

The weight and pressure of someone's arms could be felt around Hinata. She opened her eyes and they widened at the sight that was before her. Suigetsu was sleeping right beside her with his arms wrapped around her shoulders. His face was just an inch away from her's. Hinata's face grew redder and redder by the seconds.

_Should I wake him? This is so embarrassing! Why is he even this close to me? How did this happen?, _Hinata thought.

Slowly, she removed Suigetsu's arms from her body and stood up, turning away from him she started walking away. "Mmm, and where are you going?" Hinata turned back and faced Suigetsu, he was sitting up now. The redness on Hinata's face brightened and she quickly closed her eyes and looked away before answering.

"I was j-just going to sit over there until y-you w-woke up. I'm s-sorry, d-did I wake you?"

"No, you didn't. Why did you move away though? I thought we were having such a nice time," he said with a smirk on his face.

"I, uh, I..."

Suigetsu quietly laughed to himself, then stood up and walked over to Hinata. He wrapped his arm around her causing her shake with nervousness. He smirked again and said, "Well, it's fine I guess. So let's get going to that town."

"Y-yeah, o-okay," Hinata said while staring at Suigetsu's arm around her. He removed his arm from her body and starting walking in the direction of the town.

"Are you coming?," Suigetsu asked.

Hinata looked up after him, her face still a shade of bright red. "Y-yes," she said as she ran to catch up to him. The two took their time, slowly walking to the town.

**xxx**

"How much farther?" Naruto was worried about Hinata, why did she have to disappear right after she got back? And who was she with? All the thoughts of the terrible things that could happen to Hinata was running through his head.

"We're getting close," Kakashi replied. They had been running all night and decided not to stop until they reached the town.

_Hang on Hinata... We're coming,_ Naruto thought.

It only took the group another hour before they arrived at the town. The town wasn't big at all. In fact, it was very small. They walked around awhile before Akamaru broke the silence by barking.

"What?! Are you sure? I smell her too but I didn't think she was still here," Kiba said to Akamaru. Akamaru just barked in response and whatever he said made Kiba's face show a mixture of emotions. Kiba turned to look at the others and said, "Hinata and the man are here in this town right now. The only problem is that her scent is everywhere and it's all strong so Akamaru and I can't exactly find her exact spot at the moment."

"Then we'll split up again," Kakashi said. "Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, you three can go together. Sakura and Naruto, you'll be with me."

Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru walked away, leaving Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi alone. Kakashi was the first to speak. "I think we should let the others find Hinata since they are on her team."

"What? But Kakashi Sensei, we want to find Hinata too," Naruto said.

"I know you do, but if anyone can bring Hinata back, it's those three. Even with Kiba and Akamaru's noses not being able to find her there's still Shino's bugs. I'm sure they'll find her in no time. In the meantime, you two can go get something to eat or whatever you want to do while you wait."

"What'll you do?," Sakura asked.

Kakashi put his hand behind his head and scratched it with a smile on his face before he pulled out a book. Sakura and Naruto stared at him with a 'are you kidding me' kind of expression. "Yeah, let's go Naruto," Sakura said as she grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him in the direction of a food stand.

**xxx**

The hot spring in the small town was actually quite nice and much bigger than Hinata expected it to be. Suigetsu had decided it'd be a good idea to relax there since they had been sleeping on the ground for the past two days and would have to sleep on the ground another night or two.

This bad feeling kept coming to Hinata and she felt like something was about to happen, like someone was there in the town that shouldn't be. Since no one else was around her and she was alone, she decided to just use Byakugan to look around the town to make herself feel better. She was about to sigh in relief, but then she noticed many chakra filled bugs flying around the village, then she saw _them._ Her mouth fell open in shock as she watched Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino make their way through the town, getting closer to her by the second.

_Oh no! What are they doing here?! I need to tell Suigetsu! I hope he's in the lobby waiting for me... _Hinata quickly got out of the water and threw her clothes on. She ran as quickly as she could to the lobby. On her way there, she noticed a bug with chakra fly past her. Was she too late? Would they be there waiting for her. Once she arrived in the lobby she spotted Suigetsu sitting on a chair, looking at a magazine. Walking as fast as she could without running, she made her way over to him.

"Suigetsu, we have a problem. My teammates from the Leaf Village are here and I'm sure their here looking for me. I'm almost certain they know where I am!"

"Shit... Let's hurry and get out of here. Where are they now?"

"They're almost here, maybe another two minutes or so. They're coming from the front so let's go out the back way."

"Okay, come one," Suigetsu said as he stood up and walked quickly out of the back door with Hinata right behind him.

Hinata kept looking around for Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino. They still seemed to be behind them but a new problem faced Hinata and Suigetsu. Naruto and Sakura were sitting on a bench not too far ahead of them. "Suigetsu... There's others from the Leaf here."

"And let me guess.. they're probably looking for you?"

"Probably."

"Damn it. There's only two ways out of this town and we're blocked between the two."

"And the guys from my team have ways of tracking so they'll find us sooner or later... It wouldn't do any good to use a tranformation jutsu since they can track me by my scent."

Suigetsu stood there thinking for a minute. He looked all around him, trying to find a way out, when he saw it. That familiar red hair and face with glasses. "What's Karin doing here," Suigetsu said aloud.

"Karin? Where is she?"

"She's over there," Suigetsu pointed in her direction. "The woman with red hair."

"Should we go talk her or something? I mean we need to hurry and find a way out of here, we don't have much time." Just then Karin turned around and saw Suigetsu and Hinata. She waved at the two and walked to them.

"Hinata! It's good to see you," Karin said, ignoring Suigetsu.

"Oh, uhh, hi," Hinata said shyly.

"Hinata lost her memory of us," Suietsu said. "We need to get out of this town now. We're being followed and they've surrounded us on each side. So there's really no way out."

"Hmmm, you should jump up on the building roof tops and run out of here," Karin said as she pushed her glasses closer to her face. Suigetsu moved his hand to his face and cursed under his breath.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're an idiot," Karin replied, crossing her arms. "I'm coming with you."

"Fine, let's hurry." The three jumped up onto the closest roof and began running. In less than five minutes they were well out of the town and resting in the forest. Hinata checked the distance between them and the others and decided it was safe to rest for a few minutes.

"Why are you here anyways Karin?" Suigetsu asked.

"Sasuke sent me to look for you. You know you've been gone for at least a month now. I didn't really want to come but Sasuke would be pissed if I didn't and I wanted to make sure Hinata was okay," Karin said as she leaned against a tree.

"Didn't think you would want to."

"Mhmm. So Hinata, you don't remember anything?"

"N-no, nothing at all really," Hinata said as she sat down in front of a giant tree.

"That's unfortunate. I hope you get your memories back soon."

"M-me too," answered Hinata quietly.

**xxx**

"She was at the hot spring," Shino said as if he were stating a fact.

"And how the hell do you know that?" Kiba growled.

"Did you think I was doing nothing and just walking around aimlessly this whole time? I sent my bugs out looking for her and one of them passed her. It seems that she knew we were here and left. "

"What do you mean left? Isn't she still here?"

"My bugs saw her leaving this town with a man and a woman. I just wish I wouldv'e been able to get that information sooner."

"Damn it," Kiba cursed under his breath.

"Let's meet up with Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura."

"Yeah, whatever," Kiba said in an iritated tone.

As Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino walked back to where they had left the group they saw Naruto and Sakura sitting on a bench. Naruto saw them coming and was instantly disappointed seeing that Hinata was not with them. How can she be so close yet so far away?

"We couldn't find her in time. She's left town," Shino told them. "Where is Kakashi? We should get going in the direction my bugs saw her leave and then Kiba and Akamaru should be able to follow her scent once we're out of this town."

"He went off to read one of his pervy books," replied Sakura angrily. Just as she said that Kakashi appeared out of no where.

"So she left town already?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, I know which direction as well so you can all follow me until Kiba and Akamaru can catch her scent clearly," Shino answered.

"Alright. Lead the way," Kakashi said.

Shino led them all out of the town in the direction Hinata went. Once they were a good 3 miles away from the town Kiba and Akamaru picked up Hinata's scent and followed it.

**xxx**

"Let's take a break now," Suigetsu whined.

"You're so lazy! We shouldn't stop yet, those Leaf brats are probably following close behind us," Karin yelled.

"Hinataaa, can you check?" Suigetsu whined again.

"Sure," Hinata said while she activated her Byakugan. "They're no where in sight...yet. Let's not stay too long though."

"Thank goodness," Suigetsu said while sipping some water from his cup.

"Hinata, do you know of a way to throw them off our path?" Karin asked.

"Hmm, well they're probably following our scent or rather my scent, so I don't know."

"Oh, I have a great idea," Suigetsu said, smirking.

"And what is it?" Karin hissed.

"Karin, you could wear Hinata's jacket and rub her scent on trees going in a different direction than us, then ditch the jacket somewhere and meet us back at the hideout." Karin frowned, that was actually a pretty good idea especially coming from Suigetsu.

"Idiot! Why didn't you think of that sooner?" Karin yelled. She was kinda embarrassed that she didn't think of that, it was so simple. Maybe it wouldn't work though. "But Hinata's scent will still be stronger where she really is. Hinata," Karin turned to face Hinata, "we should trade clothes, then my scent would mask yours a little."

"Oh, umm, okay," Hinata said. She really didn't want to wear Karin's clothes, especially since they were so revealing. Karin led Hinata into some trees away from Suigetsu and the two girls traded clothes. Karin's shirt almost barely fit Hinata and it made Hinata very uncomfortable. _I hope I don't have to wear her clothes for long,_ Hinata thought to herself.

"I hope this works," Karin said as she and Hinata walked back to Suigetsu.

"I'm sure it will," Suigetsu said as he looked Hinata up and down and winked at her. Hinata saw him do this and blushed wildly. She wasn't used to not wearing her jacket around people and Karin's shirt showed a lot of skin. Hinata tried covering herself with her arms but it wasn't working. Suigetsu noticed her trying to hide herself and laughed.

"Hinata, let's get going," Suigetsu said, still laughing to himself. Hinata and Suigetsu left in the direction of the hideout and Karin chose a random direction to go, rubbing her clothes against random trees in hope that Hinata's scent would linger and the Leaf ninjas would follow her and not Hinata and Suigetsu.

**Author's Note:** I'm going to try to finish the next chapter within the next two days :3 But soon Hinata will meet Sasuke and maybe she'll get some answers cx or maybe not :p who knows lol. Have a lovely day c:


	7. Chapter 7: Hideout

**Chapter 7: Hideout**

It had been a full day of running with no breaks, since Hinata and Suigetsu seperated from Karin. Since no one from the Leaf Village caught up to them they decided that their plan had worked and just hoped that Karin was okay. Finally taking a break, the two layed down in a field of grass. Hinata's chest had started hurting her like crazy again for the first time since the first hot spring she went to with Suigetsu. She clutched her chest and sighed.

_I thought this pain was gone. The rest of my body has healed, why can't my chest too? _

She gazed up at the stars in the sky above her, hoping the pain would go away soon. Thoughts about Sasuke and the Akatsuki came to her mind. Taking the chance, she turned her head to face Suigetsu. "Suigetsu... Can I at least have one question that I have answered right now?" Suigetsu looked at her and noticed she was clutching her chest.

"Are you feeling okay? You're clutching your chest," Suigetsu said, completely ignoring her question. Hinata frowned at him.

"I've been having severe chest pain since I woke up in the hospital, it had stopped for the past day or two, but it's back again. Please Suigetsu, don't avoid my question." Hinata looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Ugh, fine, but what do I get for answering your question, hmm?" Suigetsu smirked, he was worried about Hinata's health but she didn't seem to be so he shrugged it off.

"Oh, um, well I don't know. What do you want?" Hinata was curious to know what he could even want from her.

Suigetsu's smirked widened. "Kiss me," he said with no emotion at all. Hinata's face went cherry red in a second.

"W-what?! You're j-joking, r-right?"

"Nope, no kiss means no question." Suigetsu laughed, he knew Hinata would never kiss him so asking her to do this to avoid her questions was genius, or so he thought. Hinata's facial expression went from embarassed to determined and Suigetsu stopped laughing, _oh shit_, he thought. She got up and walked to Suigetsu and sat down next to him.

"Get ready," Hinata whispered. She slowly moved closer to Suigetsu, their faces were just inches apart. Suddenly he jumped up and backed away from her.

"W-what's wrong? This is what you wanted, isn't it?" Hinata stared at him with confusion visible on her face.

"No, I mean yeah but..."

"Then why won't you let me kiss you so I can ask you a question?"

"It's just that I didn't think you'd really do it!"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh I don't know! Whatever, skip the kiss. Ask away," Suigetsu knew he had lost and would have to just answer whatever question Hinata had in mind.

"Why was I with Sasuke for a year?"

"He needed you for... something. He didn't expect for you to stay for longer than a month or for you to get hurt." Hinata thought about this for a moment then decided to ask more, she was finally starting to get somewhere.

"So if I wasn't supposed to be with him for more than a month, why was I?"

"It's simple really, you chose to stay."

_I chose to stay... Impossible..._

"But why?"

Suigetsu laughed at her question. "How would I know, ask yourself," he continued to laugh.

_Why would I want to stay with Sasuke? _

"Suigetsu... Was I a member of the Akatsuki then?"

"No, you were more of a member of Sasuke's team. We have no name for our team but we're a team no less. You should rest now. I don't want to make any more stops until we get to the hideout."

Hinata layed back down and heard Suigetsu lay down as well. She couldn't wrap her mind around the idea of her actually wanting to stay with them. Who was Sasuke and the Akatsuki to her really? And why would Sasuke need her?

**xxx**

"I can't believe we've been following a fake trail," Kiba yelled. The group had been traveling a whole day in the wrong direction and finally realized it when they found Hinata's clothes in a pile on the ground.

"We're going back to the Leaf Village," Kakashi said.

"Why?" everyone asked.

"We aren't getting any closer to Hinata and she obviously doesn't want us to find her. It'd be best to go back and see what Lady Tsunade wants us to do about this."

"But what about Hinata?!" Naruto and Kiba yelled at the same time.

"If the person she's with wanted to kill her, they would've done so by now. I think it's safe to assume that she's safe for the time being. Now let's go!" The group followed Kakashi's orders and were now off to the Leaf.

**xxx**

"Finally! We're here! After all this traveling we're here," Suigetsu said excitedly. Suigetsu and Hinata were standing outside of the hideout. It was nothing like what Hinata had expected. She thought it'd be some scary underground dungeon but it looked like a small appartment building, though she was certain there had to be underground parts to it. Hinata was nervous about what was waiting for her inside. How would she act when she met Sasuke for the first time or rather the first time she could remember and how would he act? Her nervousness must have been showing because Suigetsu put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her and led the way inside.

Inside the hideout was actually really nice. Instead of looking like every other apartment building out there, it actually looked like a house. Hinata guessed that they were in the 'living room area' right now. There were a couple of couches and chairs with a table in the center. A woman walked in and Hinata instantly recognized her as Karin. Once Karin noticed Hinata and Suigetsu she smiled.

"Glad you could finally make it Hinata," Karin said.

"Oh yes, so our plan worked?"

"Yeah, but one thing I forgot was the fact that I'd have no clothes if I just dumped yours somewhere. I had to stop in a village and buy some! But it seems to have worked out well in the end," Karin replied.

"Good, where's Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked.

"He's out. He said he'd be back in a few days. Hinata, I can show you to your room so you can change and shower, if you'd like," Karin said to Hinata.

"Thank you," Hinata said, as she followed Karin up a set of stairs. Hinata's room was the last room at the end of the hallway on the left.

"There you go," Karin said with a smile on her face. "If you need anything else then just ask me or Suigetsu. Juugo would probably help you out too but you don't remember him so I'll introduce you guys at dinner, which by the way is in an hour if you'd like to join us." Hinata said thank you again and Karin went back downstairs. As Hinata opened the door she slowly peeked in. She was curious about what her room would look like. The sight in front of her shocked her, she would've never imaged her room to look like this.

Walking in, Hinata looked around some more. The walls were a shade of pastel purple and the floor was a fuzzy purple carpet. The bed frame was white and the pillows and blankets on the bed were white and various shades of purple. It was beautiful and Hinata could tell that she must've decorated it herself. Next to the bed was a white bookshelf that had picture frames along the top. She walked over to it and looked at all the pictures. One was of her, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, and Kurenai Sensei, it was from when they were first assigned their team. The second one was of Neji, Hanabi, and her father with Hinata in the middle and Hanabi in front of her. And the last picture, Hinata looked at it and tears slowly escaped from her eyes. The last picture was of everyone: Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Choji, Shikamaru, Ino, Rock Lee, Tenten, Neji, and of course Hinata. She missed them all so much.

To the left of everything was a door, assuming it was the bathroom Hinata walked in. There was a big shower and bath, a toilet, sink, and a shelf with towels on it. The bathroom was quite big and Hinata loved it. She decided she would go ahead and take a shower so she could wash off all the dirt and sweat from the previous days of traveling. Taking off her clothes, she remembered they were Karin's and made a mental note that she'd wash them and give them back later. Turning the water on a warm setting, Hinata jumped in the shower, taking all the time she needed. Once she was done she wrapped a towel around her and walked back out into her room in search of clean clothes. There was a big, white wardrobe against the wall in front of her bed.

After opening the wardrobe, Hinata saw many clothes to choose from. She looked through all of them for a few minutes before deciding on a white tank top, black sweatpants, and a light purple jacket. Looking into a mirror that was next to her wardobe, Hinata fixed her hair and looked, _really_ looked at herself, it was the first time she's seen herself in a mirror in a long time. She came to the conclusion that she looked no different than before. There was a soft knock on the door and Suigetsu said "Hinata, dinner is ready. You should come eat."

Smiling, Hinata opened the door to see Suigetsu waiting for her. "You look happy," he stated. She blushed and walked down the stairs, with Suigetsu following behind her.

_Why am I so happy? Why do I feel so at home here?_

Hinata walked into the kitchen and saw a table set for four people, two people were already sitting down.

_Wait, how did I know where the kitchen was?, _Hinata thought, but decided to ignore whatever the reason was. Karin motioned for Hinata to sit down next to her. Sitting down, Hinata noticed the man sitting in front of Karin. _He must be Juugo,_ she thought. Suigetsu took his place in front of Hinata and got some food for himself, then the others did the same. Hinata took some of the food and was kinda upset to find out it was ramen. She loved ramen, it was one of her favorites but it was also Naruto's favorite and it reminded her of him. _I wonder what he thinks about me leaving... He seemed really upset that day in the hospital._

"Is something wrong Hinata?" the man in front of Karin asked.

"Oh no, nothing's wrong," Hinata smiled. "Thank you for the food."

"You're welcome," Karin said, then added "it's nothing compared to what you made for us before. You cooked everyday and it was always so delicious."

"Did I?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah! You're an amazing cook especially when you cooked sweets," Suigetsu said, "even Sasuke enjoyed it and he hates sweet things."

Hinata giggled and said "Thank you." The next forty minutes was filled with everyone eating and making small talk. Once everyone was done, Hinata told them she was tired and that she was going to bed, and that's exactly what she did. She found her bed to be extremely comfortable and instantly fell asleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_She was running from something, but what? She'd continue to run until she ran into a dead end. Then there was that haunting laugh and the glowing red eyes. The eyes would stare into her very soul. She had no escape from him. It seemed like time stopped and all she knew was that she was going to die. The man stopped laughing and smirked at her. He opened his mouth and started to speak. She couldn't hear him though. What was he saying?_

Staring at the man before her, she quietly cried to herself. How could he do this to her? Their relationship wasn't the best but she never thought he'd want to kill her. Thats it, it wasn't really him. Someone was pretending to be him, but who? Who would want to kill her? She didn't think of anyone as her enemy. They all seemed fine with her being around them, but then there was that masked man who always acted different towards her than he did to the others. Could this Sasuke imposter really be that masked man?

"I know you're not Sasuke," Hinata squeaked.

The man just laughed evilly and stepped closer to her. "And why aren't I?" he said as he held a kunai to her neck.

"Sasuke, would never do this to me!" Hinata cried out.

"Why wouldn't he? You've been here for a year, how could you know the real Sasuke? He shows you the parts of him that he wants you to see, you actually know nothing about him. Nothing at all. He's keeping secrets from you, my dear Hinata."

"Y-you're lying! I don't b-believe you."

"Oh? I am not lying, I am simply telling you the harsh truth. Sasuke cares about no one but himself and his goals. Why would he like you enough to not kill you? You're weak and holding him back from his dream. You've stopped him from reaching his life goal."

"He k-killed his b-brother already, wasn't that h-his g-goal?"

"At first it was. Then he learned the truth about his brother and his beloved Leaf Village." The man said as he transformed into his true identity. Hinata was right, it was the masked man named Tobi.

"S-so what's his goal now? H-how am I h-holding him b-back?"

The masked man laughed again and said, "You'll find out soon enough." Then everything went blank.

_There was a knock at the door, she could hear it open. She could tell it was morning, or at least sometime during the day, because of the sunlight hitting her closed eyelids. She tried opening her eyes but couldn't. Foot steps could be heard walking towards her. A hand rested on top of her forehead and someone's ear was against her chest, listening to her heart beat. A sigh of relief seemed to escape the unknown person. She could hear the person sit down somewhere near her._

**Author's Note:** Just to make some things clear, when there are three x's that are bold and underlined thats when it switches between characters, and when there are a bunch of x's thats when it switches from reality to dreams and dreams to reality :) Also, no pairings have been decided yet. Have a lovely day ^-^


	8. Chapter 8: Thoughts of the Past

**Chapter 8: Thoughts of the Past**

The next morning, all Hinata could think about was that dream. Questions about Sasuke and his new goal kept popping into her head. When she met Sasuke again she'd have to ask him what it all meant. What was he planning to do? It had to be something bad. Hinata felt as if something terrible was going to happen soon, but what?

Deciding it was time to face the world for yet another day, Hinata got out of bed. She went to the bathroom to do her morning routine and changed her clothes. Her shirt was light blue and her pants were just plain navy blue sweatpants. She found these things to be the most comfortable for the day. Once she was sure she looked acceptable, she walked out of her room and shut the door behind her. She slowly walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. When she arrived into the kitchen Hinata saw Suigetsu sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal.

Looking up from his breakfast Suigetsu noticed Hinata sit down in front of him. "Want some?" he asked as he pointed to a box of cereal.

"Sure," Hinata replied taking the box from beside Suigetsu and pouring the cereal into a bowl. It seemed as if the table was always set because there was a bowl and spoon in front of every seat at the table.

"Sleep well?" Suigetsu asked as he took a bite of another spoonful of cereal.

Hinata frowned, the truth was that she didn't sleep much at all last night. She was too worried. Deciding it'd be better to lie, Hinata smiled and said "Yes."

"Good," Suigetsu said with a grin. The two finished their breakfast and waited for Karin and Juugo to wake up. As they waited Hinata thought she should ask Suigetsu about the masked man named Tobi.

"Suigetsu, do you know a man named Tobi that is in the Akatsuki and wears a mask?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm just curious." _So the man is real, I didn't just imagine him._ "Do you know anything about him?"

"Nope... He's an idiot and really annoying though," Suigetsu said. "Why the sudden curiosity about him?"

"It's just that I had a dream about him last night."

"A dream? What kind of dream?"

"Well, it was more like I remembered something. I mean I'm pretty sure it really happened."

"And what was it that you remembered?"

"The night I got injured and was sent back to the Leaf Village."

"What does Tobi have to do with that?"

"He has everything to do with it! He's the one who hurt me! I don't think he is he who says he is."

"Are you sure he's the one who did that?!"

"Yes, I'm positive. But it doesn't make sense... He told me I was in Sasuke's way of reaching his goal. I'm guessing he wants Sasuke to complete whatever this goal is."

Suigetsu turned away from Hinata nervously. It was obvious he knew something about this. "Um, Suigetsu, you know what his goal is.. don't you?" Hinata asked.

"W-what?! No way! I know nothing," Suigetsu said as he nervously waved his hands in front of him. Hinata knew he was lying but decided not to say anymore about the subject.

**xxx**

"I knew this wouldn't be easy, nothing ever is," Tsunade said as she rubbed her temples.

"What do you suggest we do?" Kakashi asked.

"Rest up for the remainder of the day. I'll put together a bigger team and summon you all here tomorrow morning. You're all dismissed," Tsunade replied.

Everyone left the Hokage's office except for one person, Naruto. Tsunade noticed he was still there and crossed her arms. She waited for him to speak but he didn't say anything so she broke the silence. "What is it?"

Naruto frowned and spoke, "It's just... what if we can't bring Hinata back?"

"We have to believe that we will!" Tsunade firmly stated.

_Believe,_ Naruto thought as he sighed. He left the office and didn't want to go home so he walked through the streets of the village.

_Hinata why won't you come home.. to the village...to your friends...to me? Why are you running away...?_

Noticing that he was now standing in front of the hospital, tears escaped Naruto's eyes.

_Hinata why'd you have to go?_

"What are you doing?" a manly voice from behind Naruto said.

Quickly wiping the tears away from his eyes, Naruto turned around to see the speaker. "Oh hey Neji! I was just taking a walk. What brings you here?" Naruto smiled.

"I just came back from a mission so I'm here to visit Hinata," Neji replied.

Naruto stared at Neji in disbelief. What was he supposed to say to Neji? Should he tell him or should he let the nurses? "Umm, Neji... About Hinata..." Naruto said as he scratched his forehead nervously.

Neji glared at Naruto and coldly said, "What about Hinata?"

"Well, she umm..."

"Neji! There you are! We were summoned to Lady Tsunade's office!" Tenten yelled. Once she got to Neji she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him along with her.

"You can let go of me. I can walk on my own," Neji told Tenten.

"All right, all right," Tenten said as she let go of Neji's sleeve. It took the two of them a minute to get to the Hokage's office. Neji knocked on the door and the two waited for Tsunade to say enter before they walked in. When she finally said enter Neji and Tenten opened the door and saw many other people in there as well.

"Hurry up you two!" Tsunade ordered. Neji and Tenten walked in in a hurry and stood next to Lee.

"Now that you're all here, I can explain your mission. Tomorrow morning, all of you will meet with Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru at the front gates. There they will give you the details of the mission. Neji, Rock Lee, Tenten, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Sai.. Your mission will be to bring Hinata back!"

"Bring Hinata back?" Neji asked.

"Yes. She escaped from the hospital about a week ago. I sent Kakashi and the others to search for her but they have reasons to believe that Hinata doesn't want to be found, so finding her won't be easy."

"Why did she escape?!" Neji almost yelled.

"We don't exactly know, but we think she might be looking for answers about her being missing for a year. She is traveling with someone though."

"Who?!" Neji asked.

"A man with white hair and purple eyes. We still do not know who he is," Tsunade replied. "Now all of you prepare for tomorrow's mission. You're dismissed."

"Neji..." Tenten said as he rushed out of the Hokage's office.

Neji found Naruto still standing in front of the hospital. "You! Why didn't you tell me?!" Neji yelled. Naruto was surprised, he didn't notice that anyone was there. When he saw an angry Neji he slowly backed up and waved his hands in front of him nervously.

"T-tell you what?" Naruto nervously said.

"About Hinata!"

"Oh, that... I just didn't know how to..."

"Fine. At least tell me about what happened when you went after her last time!"

"Okay," Naruto said. He explained every detail from his last mission and when he was done Neji was enraged. How could his cousin Hinata abandon all of them? Why didn't she come to them for help. They would be more than willing to try and help her.

Going home to prepare for his next mission, Neji thought about his past. He always hated the main branch family and he despised Hinata with a passion. For some reason, he always thought she had things easy but little did he know she was miserable. Always having to earn up to her father's expectations but never quite meeting them. Always being put down and told her younger sister is much better than her. Training constantly to try and prove everyone wrong, that she was better than they thought. Things were always difficult for Hinata and no one ever acknowledged the fact that she was trying so hard to gain acceptance from everyone.

_She's kinda similar to Naruto,_ Neji thought. He remembered that time at the chunin exams when he had to fight Hinata. She was barely able to move yet she pushed herself so far just because of Naruto's encouragement. Then he thought about his own fight with Naruto. Naruto opened his eyes to the fact that destiny isn't something that can't be changed and that people can change too. Naruto has had a big impact on Neji and Hinata. Without Naruto, Neji probably wouldn't be close to Hinata like he is.

Every day, Neji helped Hinata train. She improved greatly but not enough to fight an Akatsuki. He should have been with her to protect her. He couldn't help but to think that it was all his fault she got kidnapped and hurt in the first place. _Naruto probably feels the same way, _he thought. They never stopped looking for her. Everyday they were doing research or actually searching in hopes of finding her, but it all seemed so useless. They weren't getting any closer to her and it seemed like she just dropped off the face of the Earth. But they wouldn't give up, Neji wouldn't give up.

Flashback

"Great job my youthful team!" Guy Sensei said as he, Neji, Tenten, and Lee were about to walk into the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Is that... Hinata?!" Tenten asked in a horrified voice as she pointed into the trees off to the side. Quickly the team ran over to see who it was. It was in fact Hinata.

"Hinata... Hinata... Wake up!" Neji yelled but got no answer. They all took Hinata to the hospital.

"How is she?" Neji asked Tsunade after she healed Hinata.

"She's badly injured and still unconscious, but she'll live."

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade," Neji replied.

"Mhmm, you can go in and visit her if you'd like," Tsunade said before she walked off.

Neji knocked on her door, but then cursed quietly to himself because she was unconscious and probably couldn't hear him. It was morning now and the sun shined brightly into the small hospital room. Neji walked to Hinata and layed his hand on her forehead. He knew he could simply use Byakugan to check and see if her heart was still beating but he found himself with his head against her chest, listening to her heart beat. He wanted to hear it not just see it. Neji sighed in relief at the sound of her heart and sat down in a chair next to her bed, sitting there with Hinata until he was told to leave by a nurse. He would've visited her again except he had to leave on a mission that he couldn't refuse, he'd make sure to visit her as soon as he got back.

End of Flashback

Finally arriving at his home, Neji got things ready for the next morning and then layed in his bed once he was finished. Knowing that sleep would be hard to come by tonight with all these thoughts going through his mind, he desperately tried to relax. Things were going to get much more difficult soon, he knew they would.

The next morning everyone was at the gate waiting for a certain Sensei to get there. "Is he always this late?" Kiba growled.

"Yeah," Sakura sighed. Just then a puff of smoke was visible and once it cleared away Kakashi was standing there.

"Sorry I'm late. I got lost on the path of life," Kakashi said.

"Whatever Kakashi Sensei, just tell the others about the mission and lets go," Naruto said with determination. He was going to bring Hinata back this time for sure. He believed that! Kakashi spent the next five minutes giving details about the mission and answering questions. Once he was done, they were all on there way to the spot where they had last known Hinata was. From there they would think of a plan of where to look.

**Author's Note:** I wrote this chapter like three different times because each time I hated it and didn't like what happened in it, so hopefully this one is better than the others cx I didn't really have a plan for this chapter but here it is c: Chapter 9 will be up soon. Have a fantastic day! :)


	9. Chapter 9: Return

**Chapter 9: Return**

"Sasuke, it's nice of you to join us," the masked man said sarcastically. Recently it had been discovered that the masked man, who was once Tobi, is supposedly Madara Uchiha. Sasuke wasn't too sure if he should really believe that but he went along with it anyway. After all, it was Madara who told Sasuke the truth about Itachi and the Leaf Village.

"Hnn," Sasuke answered. He didn't really want to be here as part of the Akatsuki, but he had no choice.

"Well as you all know," Madara said to the the group of Akatsuki members sitting at the round table, "we are still collecting Tailed Beasts. There are only two left, the Eight Tails and Nine Tails. Sasuke, I want you and your team to retrieve the Eight Tails. Pain, the Nine Tails."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the mention of the Nine Tails. 

_Naruto._

"I want one tailed beast at a time. So once you bring the Eight Tails to us Sasuke, Pain can go get the Nine Tails," Madara said. "You're all dismissed. And Sasuke, hurry."

Sasuke stood up and left just as the others had. Before he got out of the room, Madara called him over to speak with him.

"How are your plans working out for you?" Madara asked Sasuke. They were alone now, everyone else had left.

"Fine," Sasuke answered emotionlessly.

"And how about your little Leaf Village girlfriend? How is she?"

"I don't know and I don't care. She abandoned us and never met up with Suigetsu. He wasted his time waiting for her, I finally sent Karin after him. They should both be back by now. We'll leave for the Eight Tails tomorrow," Sasuke said as he walked out of the room and left.

He hoped Karin and Suigetsu were back so they could get the tailed beast nonsense over with. All he wanted to do right now was destroy the Leaf Village. And soon he would do just that.

**xxx**

"Sasuke's almost here," Karin said casually.

"What?! How do you know?" Hinata asked in a panicked tone.

"I can sense chakra from a quite a distance," Karin replied.

"Oh, but Sasuke... does he know I'm here?" Hinata asked nervously.

"Uhh, probably not."

"Don't worry about it though," Suigetsu said as he entered the room, giving Hinata a smile. She smiled back and shook her head.

Quietly they waited for Sasuke.

**xxx**

For once in his life, Sasuke felt too tired to do anything except run back to the hideout. He knew as soon as he got there he'd go straight to bed and rest. Lately his eyes have been giving him trouble, adding to his exhaustion. Telling the others about the Eight Tails would have to wait until morning.

Deep down inside of him, he felt like something was about to happen. He could just feel it and he really didn't like this feeling at all. Something must've happened at the hideout, but what? He would find out in no time. The hideout was so close to him now. He had been gone for a little over a month and was only there twice during that time; which he only stayed for about an hour at a time. If something did happen, why did it have to happen now when things were starting to go as planned? Desperately, Sasuke hoped everything was fine.

The hideout was only a few feet away from him now. He could sense that something was different, but what? Many lights were on inside, including a certain someone's bedroom light.

_She couldn't be back, could she? No, no, Sasuke you're going crazy. It's probably just Karin or Suigetsu or Juugo, definitely not her. She abandoned me, why would she come back? She could even be dead._

Stepping closer to the door, Sasuke grabbed the handle and pulled it open. He looked inside, everything seemed normal so far.

"OH SASUKE! YOU'RE BACK!" Karin yelled as she walked into the 'living room'. She immediately embraced him into a tight hug. Pushing her away, Sasuke stared at her. She seemed to be okay and didn't look like something could be wrong. Maybe he was just imagining things.

"I'm so glad you're finally back!" Karin almost screamed, then whispered under her breath, "Seems like I have competition again..."

"What was that?" Sasuke asked as he looked around the room, checking for any signs of something being out of place.

"Uhh, nothing. You must be tired, why don't you rest here while I make you some tea," Karin replied.

"No, I'll be going upstairs now. Tell the others to wake up early tomorrow. We have a mission."

"A mission?"

"Yeah. Just be ready," Sasuke said as he started walking up the stairs.

"Umm, Sasuke..." Karin called after him in almost a whisper.

"What now?!" he was losing patience with her.

She looked up at him and then looked back down and said, "Oh nothing," as she walked away.

_What was that about? Crazy woman..._

Once Sasuke reached the top of the stairs, he saw Suigetsu walking out of the room at the end of the hallway on the left.

Suigetsu winked and said "Hey, Sasuke," before he walked into his own bedroom which was only two doors away from the room he just walked out of.

_These two are acting weirder than usual. But why did he leave the light on and leave the door open... Is Juugo in there?_

Slowly Sasuke walked closer to the opened door. Why was he so afraid to look inside? Why should he, Sasuke Uchiha, be afraid to look inside of a room whose former owner left him and could be dead right now? It's not like she would be in there at this very moment.

Peering inside, Sasuke saw something that made his heart stop for a moment.

_This can't be..._

Sasuke walked into the doorway and stared inside the room at the girl sitting on the bed. She looked up at him and forced a smile, she looked terribly nervous. Not knowing how to feel, Sasuke shut his eyes and opened them in hopes that he was just seeing things. But when his eyes opened again, the young woman was still there.

"...Sasuke? Are you all right?" Hinata squeaked.

Sasuke didn't answer her, he didn't even look at her. All he wanted right now was for things to be normal, or as normal as things would get for him. Why did she have to be here now?

"Sasuke? Sasuke! Would you please look at me!" Hinata said angrily. _What am I doing?! I can't yell at him, _she thought to herself.

Opening his eyes, Sasuke saw Hinata standing right in front of him. Somehow she always snuck past his senses and caught him off guard, which was a big problem for him.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke whispered, he didn't mean to whisper at all but it felt like someone had knocked the life out of him.

"Not to interrupt the reunion, but WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Karin yelled as she pushed passed Sasuke and ran to Hinata. "The Leaf Village ninjas are close and there's more of them than before."

Snapping out of whatever trance he was in, Sasuke looked at Karin and noted the panicked expression on her face. "We have to go then," he said as he walked away from the girls and went down the stairs.

"Come on Hinata, Suigetsu and Juugo are waiting for us outside. We have to get out of here as soon as possible," Karin said as she grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled her out of the room.

"Where are we going?" Hinata asked as Karin continued to drag her out of the hideout.

"Anywhere but here!" was all Karin said.

"Juugo, Suigetsu, take Karin and Hinata as far away from here as you can. I'll deal with the Leaf Village," Sasuke said in his emotionless, bored voice.

"Sure thing," Suigetsu replied.

Sasuke jumped up onto a nearby tree branch and waited for the others to leave. Things were about to get really troublesome for him.

**Author's Note**: Sorry for not updating in so long /.\ and sorry for a poopie short chapter cx Anyways, so I'm guessing it's pretty clear that Sasuke and Hinata are (and were lol) a pairing c; (and if you don't like that then just get over it lol its my story anyways, don't like don't read) for now anyways... something might happen to change that :P Enjoy ^.~ Have a lovely day/night


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